Mar 28, 2011

You've played three games of Caravan with the old man on the other side of the table. At 20 caps a game, the he isn't making much off of you, and as you're about to swear off the game, he offers to answer any question you have about the game.

"Why isn't this game played with full decks?" you begin.

"Have you ever tried finding a full deck of cards in the Mojave Wasteland? There isn't one," he replies without much thought.

"Then if it's so hard to find cards at all, why not allow multiples of the same suit, value, and deck?"

A sad memory can be seen in his eyes as he considers his reply. "My grandpa used to, but that was before some hotshot from the big city came in with a box of decks from The Tops casino. No way the slicker got those without a gun. Anyway, he had whatever deck he wanted and was selling decks to anyone. It was killing both the card market and the game. Banning multiples of the same suit, value, and deck was the only viable solution." At the old man's age, it is doubtful his grandfather had been alive in the last twenty years.

"But you just said that there isn't any full decks in the Mojave Wasteland," you retort.

"First off, that isn't a question," he calmly replies as he sits back in the bench, sliding his index finger across an itch on his nose. "Second, find a full deck and prove me wrong."

Not knowing where a full deck might be, you continue, "Why can't I stack the same value card on itself?"

"Putting the same card on a caravan means it isn't traveling anywhere. A caravan not moving, is a caravan not making money."

"But with the same suit, the caravan can switch directions. What is up with that?"

"Backtracking is only worth it if the price is right, or a proper lady ask you to," he says with a grin and a wink as he holds up a Queen of Diamonds.

Finding another question, you ask, "Speaking of the face cards, why does Jack and King do what they do to the game?"

He ponders for the longest he has for any question you have asked him. After a time you wonder if he is going to answer. Eventually, he does. "I don't rightly know why the King causes the value of a card to double. It would seem to reason that a king wouldn't be so giving and horde his wealth to himself. Jack on the other hand," he replies grimly, "Split Jack is the reason."